Core Support

[ptrautne]

I just got a new truck to work on and I was taking the radiator out and found the truck was in an accident. The core support is bent pretty bad and had the radiator pushed back ~1”. Should I just bend the metal back out or should I cut the core support off my old truck and weld I the straight support in?

[Ted]

How badly is it bent?

[ptrautne]

How badly is it bent?

It would take a lot of work to get it close to the original shape. I will try to get a picture

[Ted]

If you get the old one with no problem, I would just weld in the better one.

[BeaterToyota]

I just got a new truck to work on
Did you buy Jeff's '92 truck?

Should I just bend the metal back out or should I cut the core support off my old truck and weld I the straight support in?
I think either way will be fine. A friend of mine like 10 years ago put a 350 in his '84 Toy. When he pulled the 22R out he just cut out the whole front of the engine bay, then welded it back in later. It was kinda a hack job, but it worked. I'm sure yours would come out much better.

[ptrautne]

I just got a new truck to work on
Did you buy Jeff's '92 truck?

Should I just bend the metal back out or should I cut the core support off my old truck and weld I the straight support in?
I think either way will be fine. A friend of mine like 10 years ago put a 350 in his '84 Toy. When he pulled the 22R out he just cut out the whole front of the engine bay, then welded it back in later. It was kinda a hack job, but it worked. I'm sure yours would come out much better.

I picked up Jeff's truck on Sunday so I started to replace the timing chain and found that the core support was bent which was making the fan shroud touch the accessories on the engine. Do you know if the core support is that structural? The only reason why I would cut the old one out and weld in a new one is if the body needs the support to be strong. I have the support pulled out enough that the radiator is almost in the correct location.

[BeaterToyota]

I would guess that it provides some structural integrity, but I don't know how much. I would just bend it as much as you can, and then to combat the metal fatigue maybe weld some light bracing to it to keep it from bending again.

[Mike]

Bend it back with a comealong. My Tacoma one is bent. If necessary just reinforce it down the road.

[ptrautne]

Here are some pictures of it pulled out enough that there is clearance between the AC and the fan shroud. When I got the truck the shroud interfered with the pulley by 3/4". All I need now is to get the hood to close right. The hood sits above the fenders by an 1/8”

http://home.comcast.net/~paul.trautner/S5030021.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~paul.trautner/S5030015.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~paul.trautner/S5030017.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~paul.trautner/S5030018.JPG